Author: Nick Akerman

Prior to private practice Nick served as a federal prosecutor. He was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted a wide array of white collar criminal matters, including bank frauds, bankruptcy frauds, stock frauds, complex financial frauds, environmental and tax crimes. Nick was also an Assistant Special Watergate Prosecutor with the Watergate Special Prosecution Force under Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski.Nick has over 30 years of experience in helping clients respond to government investigations and prosecutions and assisting corporate clients prevent and respond to internal thefts and outside hackers. He is a nationally recognized expert on computer crime and the protection of competitively sensitive information and computer data. Nick regularly obtains injunctions for his clients under the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in various federal courts around the country requiring computer thieves to return stolen computer data and prohibiting the dissemination of the data to competitors. He also guides clients in developing systems, policies and protocols to protect computer data.Nick speaks and writes regularly on protecting computer data, including in his regular computer data column for the National Law Journal. He has been a featured quoted expert on computer fraud and computer security issues in the New York Times, USA Today, the San Jose Mercury News, the Boston Globe, the St. Louis Dispatch, the Sacramento Bee, Forbes, ComputerWorld, CFO Magazine, CNET, CNET Japan, ZDNet, MSN, Internet Week and the Weekly Homeland Security Newsletter. His blog can be found at http://computerfraud.us.

Back in 1972, California voters added privacy to the state constitution’s list of inalienable rights. On June 28, 2018, the California Legislature enacted and Governor Brown signed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. The new Privacy Law creates one of the most comprehensive frameworks for regulating digital privacy in the United States.

Recent discussion on MSNBC regarding Trump’s obstruction of justice Tweet containing: Full Akerman: Trump’s attempt to manipulate the justice system is one big obstruction via @Yahoo Watergate special assistant attorney Nick Akerman explains how Trump’s dealings with the Russia probe and justice department show a clear pattern of behavioR. Watergate special assistant attorney Nick… Read More

Nick Akerman is amazing! I find his insight to be amongst the best. — RunNifRun (@RunNifRun) May 9, 2018 Mueller’s supposed questions released by the White House Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, also said the most interesting questions may not have been included in the set provided to Trump’s lawyers. “The… Read More

On June 1, China’s new Cybersecurity law took effect. The new law applies not only to domestic Chinese companies but has wide-ranging implications for U.S. and other foreign companies doing business in China.

On 10 January 2017, the European Commission announced its proposal for new legislation which would update the law relating to privacy in electronic communications. The Commission has proposed a draft ePrivacy regulation that would repeal and replace the existing ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC) (“ePrivacy Directive”). The draft regulation aims to further the Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy by complementing and conforming privacy rules in the telecommunications sector with the General Data Protection

Two new developments this past year have made it easier for employers to sue employees in federal court for stealing data from company computers. The most recent is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s July decision in U.S. v. Nosal interpreting what it means to access a company computer “without authorization” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the federal computer criminal statute. 18 U.S.C. 1030. The other development is the May amendment to the Economic Espionage Act (EEA), the federal criminal trade secrets act, permitting companies to file a federal civil action against individuals who steal the company’s competitively sensitive data. 18 U.S.C. 1831, et. seq.

On November 7, 2016, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress promulgated the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “CSL”) to become effective on June 1, 2017. While the law purports to create an overall national cyber security plan, its provisions, some of which are still vague, create significant potential uncertainties for companies doing business in China.

Ransomware. It’s a data security buzzword that has caught on among civilians and businesses. And it’s real. It threatens system security and costs victims plenty. But what is ransomware? Why is it more of a threat than typical cyber viruses and infections? What do you do to keep yourself immune from ransomware? If affected, what are your options?

Microsoft scored an important victory when the Second Circuit ruled that the government is not authorized to issue warrants for customer data stored overseas. In re Warrant to Search a Certain E-mail Account Controlled & Maintained by Microsoft Corp. should offer a level of comfort for the cloud computing industry as a whole and for U.S. companies that have an international storage footprint.

Post navigation

About

Computerfraud.us provides content on cutting edge legal issues relating to the protection of computer data, data breaches, corporate computer policies, court interpretations of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and state and federal compliance requirements. The site also follows trends in cybercrime and how prosecutors, including the Department of Justice, are investigating and prosecuting computer crime.

About Nick

Nick is a partner in Dorsey & Whitney's New York Office. He is a trial lawyer specializing in both complex civil and criminal cases and is a nationally recognized expert on computer crime and the protection of competitively sensitive information and computer data. Read More...